Dax Riggs, a musician from Houma, Louisiana, achieved national fame with sludge metal band Acid Bath in the ’90s. After departing Acid Bath, Riggs played with psychedelic swamp rock band Agents of Oblivion and indie rock outfit Deadboy & the Elephants. Since 2007, Riggs has been releasing music under his own name. The Daily Reveille sat down with Dax Riggs to talk about his sound and the upcoming show.
The Daily Reveille: Your last album, “Say Goodnight to the World,” was released more than four years ago. Have you been working on any new music lately?
Dax Riggs: I have! After “Say Goodnight to the World,” I moved from Austin, Texas, back to Louisiana. I started working with more tape machines and tape echo rather than digital sound. I’ve been working with quite a bit of Moog synthesizer and funk guitar stuff mixed with an acoustic folk vibe. I’m interested in creating things that are really tied to my spirit. My favorite part of music is reaIly trying to cultivate a dream into a song. It’s like tending to a tree, growing fruit until it’s ready to fall off of the tree.
TDR: Nice. What have you been listening to and how is it influencing what you’ve been writing?
Riggs: I’ve been listening to a lot of old singer/songwriter stuff, like Jerry Jeff Walker, Shirley Collins and John Jacob Niles. I picked up Niles’ book called, “The Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles,” which is a collection of songs that he learned from people while hiking around the Appalachian Mountains. So, I’ve been getting into a lot of that kind of stuff. I’ve been playing with a lot of ancient songs, a bunch of ballads that are so old that nobody knows who wrote them. They’ve just been passed around and passed down through generations.
TDR: You said you’ve been working with Moogs and funk guitar. What kind of stuff inspired you to do that?
Riggs: Well, I’ve also been listening to a lot of Turkish freakout psychedelic stuff and North African ’70s psych rock. There’s this Zambian band from the ’70s called the Ngozi Family that I’ve been really into. Really groovy stuff.
TDR: So when do you think you’ll be releasing an album?
Riggs: Definitely some time within the next year. I’m thinking of doing two albums: one of completely original material and one of my renditions of old songs.
TDR: Do you think there’s any chance you’ll be collaborating with any of your old bandmates or anyone else in the near future?
Riggs: I’m definitely up for it. I collaborate with people a lot these days. On some songs on my albums, I don’t play guitar at all.
Dax Riggs with Cody Bonnette will play at the Spanish Moon today at 9 p.m. Tickets are $12.
You can reach Tyler Fontenot on Twitter @TylerFontenot83.